AIRO Young Opportunity

(Academia)

Expires

30 Jun 2020

Institution

Ada Byron Research Center, University of Málaga

Country

Spain

Description

The group OASYS (“Optimization and Analytics for Sustainable EnergY Systems”) is looking for a
highly-talented applicant for a post-doctoral position with a focus on Advanced analytics and
its applications to sustainable energy systems. Among other things, the postdoctoral fellow is
expected to contribute to the development and implementation of a system that, by the use of
large amounts and a wide variety of data, enables small prosumers of electricity to compete on
wholesale energy markets on equal footing with big producers, retailers and consumers.
The initial term of the position is for 1 year, with the possibility of extension, based on mutual
interest and convenience. The postdoctoral fellow will become a key member of OASYS
(https://sites.google.com/view/groupoasys/home), by developing excellent research,
supervising PhD. and MSc. students, and helping attract new talents and funds. OASYS is located
at the Ada Byron Research Center (https://www.uma.es/adabyron/?set_language=en) of the
University of Málaga, Málaga, Spain.
The postdoctoral position is due to start in September 2020, and will be linked to and funded by
an Excellent Science project awarded by the European Research Council through an ERC Starting
Grant.
The candidate is expected to have:
1. A PhD or equivalent, preferably in operations research and statistics, control or electrical
engineering, computer science, or mathematics.
2. The qualifications, skills and expertise of an operations researcher, that is, with a strong
background in mathematical programming and optimization theory; methods for
decision-making under uncertainty, in particular, stochastic programming, robust

We look for candidates with competences in several of these fields. Knowledge of
machine/statistical learning, forecasting and/or power systems will be a plus.
3. The ability to code and solve large-scale optimization problems using programming
languages like Python and optimization solvers like Cplex on High-Performance
Computing Facilities.
4. An excellent command of the English language, both orally and in writing.
5. Ability to present results in technical reports, and prepare scientific papers for
publication in international journals.
The appointment involves a competitive salary, commensurate with qualifications, and
healthcare and social security insurance. Interested candidates are kindly requested to prepare
an application form consisting of a single pdf file in English containing all the materials to be
given consideration, namely:
1. Cover letter (max. 1 page).
2. CV, including list of publications, track-record of major achievements, work experience,
and summary of educational background.
3. Contact details of at least three references.
4. PhD diploma or equivalent. In case you are planning to defend your PhD. thesis in the
end the first semester of 2020, provide a document indicating the expected date of
your defense.

Applications should be sent IN A SINGLE PDF FILE, no later than June 30, 2020 (Brussels time),
to groupoasys+post3@gmail.com with your full name in the subject line.
Further technical information on the position and the application procedure can be obtained by
sending your inquiry to groupoasys+post3@gmail.com as well. Please, do not send your
application to Dr. Juan M. Morales. All qualified candidates irrespective of age, gender, disability,
race, religion or ethnic background are encouraged to apply.

Dr. Juan M. Morales (https://sites.google.com/site/jnmmgo/) has been awarded a Starting
Grant by the European Research Council, the most prestigious grant in Europe for young talented
researchers (https://erc.europa.eu/funding/starting-grants). The grant is endowed with 1.2
million and aims at facilitating Dr. Morales to conduct excellent research through the
implementation of his project “Advanced Analytics to Empower the Small Flexible Consumers of
Electricity”, and build up his own independent research group. The postdoc fellowship described
above will be funded by this grant and therefore, the postdoc researcher is expected to become
a fundamental asset for Dr. Morales’ research team OASYS.

The University of Málaga is an Andalusian university of increasing international relevance that is
strongly committed to high-level education, research and innovation with up-to-date
infrastructures, the attraction of talented researchers and growing international collaborations.
The university takes part in the International Campus of Excellence (ICE) Andalucía TECH, which
arises from the fusion of capacities of the University of Seville (US) and the University of Málaga
(UMA). The campus comprises 150 partner entities including public bodies, technological parks,
technological centers, businesses and other entities, and is specialized in Information and
Communications Technologies.

Málaga is a beautiful city located in the south of Spain. It is part of the popular “Costa del Sol”
and one of the cities with the highest quality of life in Spain. Málaga enjoys an extraordinary
climate and is becoming more and more known worldwide. The city is particularly well
interconnected to the rest of Spain, Europe and the world by air (through its international
airport), sea (through its international harbor), and land (through its direct connection to the
Spanish high-speed rail infrastructure).